Full Circle Theory
by SerahRose-chan
Summary: After the Female Titan was captured in the Stohess district, Lance Corporal Levi is called by Erwin Smith to meet a certain oddity found and brought from the outside of The Wall in Karanese. Titan-shifters are amongst humans, titans are in the walls and a surely dead old friend comes back from the grave. Levi/Eren, Levi/OC and Eren/OC for the moment!
1. Chapter 1: Return

**"Back then I thought for sure it was all over for me. I thought I wasn't going to fight alongside you again. The darkness consumed me and the cold reached my bones. I was gone, I knew I was gone…but I woke up"**

**Chapter 1: Return**

It was a bright, warm morning in Stohess. The birds chirped around as they flew guided by the tender morning breeze that was also messing around so playfully with Lance Corporal Levi's hair. He was busy walking out his hurt leg alongside Eren Jeager, who although was now more free to be by his own thanks to the Female Type Titan's help decided to stick around the Corporal until they received new orders. Stohess was now almost back to normal, the people walked on the streets as lively as they could, following their ways to shops or work despite all the destroyed buildings. Levi watched over all of them with sharp eyes, humanity had enemies inside the walls. There was bound to be more titan shifters among them, and he was more than careful over anyone who looked at Eren for too long. The 15 year old titan shifter was walking behind the Corporal, which made the latter sigh in annoyance. The kid's respect led him to go as far as walking behind Levi because of his hurt leg. The Lance Corporal stopped on his way and looked back at Eren.

"Brat, don't walk behind me. How am I supposed to see what you're doing when you're back there?" Levi glared at Eren making the younger bolt to his side like a scolded pup.

"I'm sorry sir" The 15 year old apologized and then smiled brightly as if he hadn't destroyed part of Stohess a few days ago.

"Jeager you're smiling, what the hell is it?" The older man seemed ticked off about how fresh that smile seemed and the he realized Eren just didn't smile.

"I have a terrible feeling Corporal" The younger replied. "Sir, don't you have a bad feeling too?"

In all honesty, who the hell didn't have a bad feeling these days. Levi couldn't get his stomach to settle the hell down and he found it rather very inconvenient that it didn't. For crying outloud when they had capture Annie Leonhardt they had also discovered the ugly truth about the walls. They had Colossal Titans inside them. Seriously, after that who in the hell wouldn't have a bad feeling about everything?  
"Jeager give me one reason why we shouldn't all have a bad feeling right—"

"Lance Corporal! Your presence is required on the Survey Corps HQ sir!" A man no older than his twenty's came rushing towards the pair of men. He stopped to get air for a few seconds once he reached them and spoke formally, his right fist over his heart. "Commander Smith said it was about an oddity found outside of Karanese district. He needs you to go see him immediately"

"Oddity?" Levi asked with a questioning look on his face.

"I wasn't told anything else sir" The young man replied truthfully as Eren ogled Levi in awe and adoration.

"Well then, lead the way soldier. Eren don't just stand there and follow beside me"

"Sir, yes sir!"

* * *

"Good morning Erwin, may I know to what 'oddity' I owe this summoning to?" Levi entered the Commander's office wearing an annoyed expression not to said Commander's surprise.

The blond man sat by his oak wood desk full of papers and whatnot drinking a cup of what appeared to be coffee. "Found a titan Hanji deemed uninteresting?"

"Levi do you remember Shinganshina?" Erwin's voice was serious, sharp. Something was definitely not right, the Commander had brought up Shinganshina.

"Who doesn't Erwin, what is this about?" Levi could feel Eren stiffen besides him, the boy wasn't exactly comfortable with remembering the time he lost his mother. It just made him want to jump the walls to kill every titan he found on his way, which was obviously stupid and impossible in his current state.

The Commander stood up and walked over to where Levi and Eren were standing. He kept quiet as he nodded and went out the door giving them the signal to follow him. They walked past several rooms on the same corridor the office was before Erwin stopped before a door. He then looked at Levi and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"The oddity is in there, Levi I didn't call you here to interrogate her but rather to confirm her identity."  
"Her?"

"You'll see, I'll wait here with Eren we'll come in after your call"

He nodded not so very excited over whatever he was to find behind the door. He went inside closing the door behind him and examined the room in search for this "her". The place was well lit, classic styled guest room with a large glass window adorned with red curtains as frames. A queen sized bed lay untouched to his right with fluffy looking gold sheets and ruby pillows, a love seat by the window, a tea table for three close to the door on his left and a large carpet in the middle of the room. He was estranged that he couldn't find a woman at first chance and thought that perhaps this was all some sort of nasty prank on Erwin's part ignoring how serious he looked.

He walked over to the window and looked right in his brainstorming of what was going on and spotted the elusive young woman. She appeared to be sleeping, her knees pressed against her chest and her head rested against the wall. She wore plain yet new clothes, a white sundress and leather boots. He walked closer to examine her better and noticed her arms and what was visible of her legs were covered in scratches and scars. She had shoulder length dirty blond hair and dark tanned skin. At first glance she looked incredibly frail but as Levi soon came to realize, she had strong looking arms and legs. This girl was stronger than her appearance led on to… and there was something about her.

The corporal took a closer look at her face and found her face quite familiar. Almond shaped eyes for what he could tell as she had them closed, bow shaped lips, a few freckles here and there… what was it about this face that seemed so damn familiar. The girl stirred in her sleep and Levi made a sudden move that alerted her of his presence close to her. She jumped up and threw a punch at Levi with no hesitation whatsoever before she jumped back and hit herself against the wall. Animal instincts, attack first and then escape. Levi barely evaded her fist as he fell back and recovered to watch how she bumped into the wall and fell butt first to the floor.

"Nice reflexes girl having trouble sleeping in bed?" He was about to add to his question when her pair of jade green eyes fell on his.

"Lehv-e… heichou?!" She spoke slowly and carefully, making sure she had chosen the correct words. Her eyes watered and she smiled brightly. "Heichou!"

It took him a moment to recover from realizing who she was. It took him more to get through the fact that that very woman was sitting in front of him.

"_Heichou, no! Look out!"_

A push, a rain of boulders, a titan. Everything had happened too fast for him to register back then. He hadn't realized the danger they were in, a mistake he had made sure he wouldn't commit again.

"_Lehv-e heichou… I'm sorry…"_

"Engel? Erika Engel?!"

**/ /And this was the first chapter of my OC fanfiction relevant to Shingeki no Kyojin. I just had this idea in my head for a while now and decided to pass it on paper. It's an OC story that happens after Annie's capture and during the whole Titan's in Wall Rose arc. I dunno if anyone would like to read it I just happen to like writing this story for fun and although it happens after a cannon event, from this point onwards the story changes to fit in with Erika's story. Think of it more of a parallel dimension event, "what if…?" kinda thing. I'll post second chapter once I'm done fixing it and passing it on pc~! Also Erika calls Levi as "revi" unlike everyone else who call him "rivai" just to clarify the whole "Lehv-e" thing. / / **


	2. Chapter 2: Alive

**Chapter 2: Alive**

Erwin Smith had been informed of a suspicious woman lurking outside of the Walls in Karanese. She had been brought in with no struggle whatsoever and she had been questioned. The information she had provided was quite intriguing, for the name she stated and her appearance matched that of a soldier Erwin had once gotten the chance to meet. Her name was Erika Engel, a young woman in her 20s. The interesting part was the one where the Erika Engel he had met was killed, crushed by a building, in the Shinganshina breach five years ago. She was a recently graduated soldier with one expedition on her shoulders as well as the assisted kills of eight titans. She had proven herself capable of surviving outside the walls in those 8 kills as well as he ability to actually keep up with Levi. Apart from Hanji, Erika was the only one who could keep a close watch on the Corporal's moves and assist if needed be as well as provide cover. She wasn't a prodigy, but she still was a remarkable soldier. During the breach though, her clumsy self led her to not notice a titan in time and in the process of making up for her mistake she had saved Levi and his squad at the moment by bringing down a whole building over a titan as well as herself.

Erwin sighed thinking about how much that one blew off on the Corporal, it wasn't everyday an 18 year old kid brought down a damned building on her to possibly save lives. Levi was pissed at her for dying like that, but admitted he knew she might die in some ridiculous way like that. She was the type to get killed over cake, Levi had told Erwin, she was remembered like that if anything.

The Commander sat by his desk going through some papers as he thought of the soldier when knocks were heard on the door.

"Come in" He spoke setting his papers aside and looking towards the door waiting for the person knocking to come in.

A red haired man from the Stationary Guard came in with a young woman coming in behind him. She was Levi's height and looked like a street marauder with her messy dirty blond hair and tattered, worn down pants and shirt.

"Commander…Erwin?" She asked as she looked at him with big green eyes full of surprise and joy. She stood up straight immediately and pounded her chest with her right fist just over her heart. "Engel Erika reposting home, sir!"

Erwin took a moment to take in what was going on in front of him. It was impossible that the woman in front of him was who she claimed to be, yet he knew it really was her. Those big green eyes of her didn't lie, it was part of who she was. Her eyes never lied and neither did the fact of her being there.

"Engel…how did you…report soldier, how are you here right now?"

Erika oogled Erwin with serious eyes, she mumbled a bit as if searching for words and then continued on to answering the Commander's question.

"Sir… I'd be more than… happy, to answer all your questions regarding my status since… Shinganshina but I must ask you something… first if I may be so bold" She spoke looking for words, it seemed as if she hadn't spoken to a human being for a long time and it was difficult for her to string words together in a sentence accordingly.

Erwin nodded at her request, curious to know more about the dead girl in front of him, and signaled her to voice her question.

"Is he… Is Lance Corporal Lehv-e alive sir?"

* * *

"Engel? Erika Engel?!" Levi stared at her as if he had seen an actual ghost. He had seen this woman die before his eyes, he saw her get crushed. "You're alive? Is it really you? Of course it's you, who else has that moronic face of yours in this world. What the hell?!"

Erika grinned at Levi's monologue and dried the tears that had sneaked out of her eyes in the last few seconds.

"I am glad… to see you well Corporal" Levi raised a brow at her slow way of speaking, and she just looked down and did her best to avoid eye contact. "I'm happy… you recognized me. Commander Smith… felt like he needed your confirmation though…"

"No kidding you moron, you're supposed to be deader than my faith in the military police. Mind explaining what in the hell is going on here? I saw you die, you died. You got crushed by a piece of building the size of a small titan." The older man hadn't the slightest idea of what was going on. He could barely cope with the fact that there were titans inside the wall and now a woman that was supposed to be dead had come back from the grave, a grave that lay in Shinganshina to finish up. For more that he tried to find a way to make this a coincidence, he just couldn't. Titan shifters had appeared to take Eren, and now a clumsy dead girl came up after five years? No way in hell that was just coincidence.

"I'll explain this, right away, sir" She spoke faster than before, she was attempting to calm Levi down, she knew something was obviously wrong with her being here besides the normal amount of shock. She got on her feet and saluted, she was ready to do anything to get her Corporal to trust her again. "I'm ready to report"

Levi got on his feet too and called out to Erwin and Eren to come in. The new comers grabbed the chairs by the tea table and settled them on front of the love seat where Erika went to sit on. Levi after thinking it for a few seconds decided to sit beside her, if this woman was the same Erika Engel, she was bound to be worried as hell and the presence of someone beside her was bound to calm her down. She straightened up tense as he sat beside her and all he could think of was that maybe playfully punching her on the shoulder would get her to lighten the fuck up. Erwin cleared his throat as if noticing Levi's intentions and set on to begin the questioning.

"Erika Engel, you were reported dead five years ago during the breach in Shinganshina yet here you are alive and well for what we can see. Would you care explaining your status during the last couple of years in order to clarify our doubts about your allegiance?"

Erika breathed in and out before she started talking as best as she could taking her time to choose her words.

"I remember pushing Corporal Lehv e out of the way, when the titan came for us. I made the thing ram, itself against, the building and trapped it using my 3dm gear…the titan's trashing made the building, collapse on itself as I had predicted and I… it all went dark then. I was sure I was dead… or at least, it seemed that way before I woke up" It was interesting for Levi hearing her talk about her death so carefully. She had been dumb and brought a building on her to kill one dumb 10 meter titan. She could have gotten out alive, but she chose to sacrifice herself to make sure they all escaped. She looked at Erwin straight in the eyes for the next part, this was what they didn't know after all, she wanted them to understand she was being truthful to the max.

"I was in my tattered uniform, my 3dm gear was broken laid aside with a bag with a bow and arrows beside it. I was in an abandoned house…in Shinganshina. I thought that maybe I had blacked out at some point and that maybe someone else was around but… as I went outside… I realized the place looked as if it had been months, no less than a year, since the breach…that was impossible… right…? Because then… that would mean I had been, unconscious for that long."

"Engel that's absurd, unless you are some sort of mutation or monster you couldn't have possible survived a year unconscious in Shinganshina" Erwin reasoned trying to see how much more the girl knew about her own situation. She nodded wearing a sad smile.

"I thought I might just be one sir" She took another deep breath and gulped. "I wanted to go home, to the scouting legion and I thought of heading north to Wall Rose. I thought I could someday find an expedition and then I'd go home… but as you have come to know… I didn't find my way until… recently. I traveled slow, wary of titans and careful not to be much of a nuisance when I hunted…ummm" She looked at Levi uncomfortably and her eyes showed off how exasperated she was because of what she was going to say next. She face Erwin newly her face screaming how frightened she and she bit on her lower lip fiddling with her fingers all the while.

"I faced titans… in my first two encounters… I managed to outrun them somehow… I've gotten real fast … but on the third one… I remember going for the nape of his neck with my worn out blades and getting my leg chomped off when I missed my target."

The room was filled with harsh tension, Levi looked at Erika as if he wasn't sure whether he should bash her skull in or if he should trust she wasn't bad while Erwin looks at her as if he was planning something. Eren on his side stared at her with intense eyes, he was deciding, like Levi, if he should finish her off or wait it out. Erika had both her legs, it was more than obvious that if she had gotten her leg chomped off she had regenerated that limb.

"I bled a lot… and knowing well what missing a leg meant in the outside… I fell asleep waiting for my death… but I woke up the next day with all my limbs and a freshly killed rabbit on my lap."

"You're a titan shifter" Eren said, his words dripping acid and burning her with accusations.

The young woman looked away miserable, she didn't know what a titan shifter was but for the tone she knew it was something that people hated.

The woman in front of them was not human.

"It happened many other times with my other limbs, and every time I'd fall asleep and wake up like new the next day" She continued not willing to leave anything behind. She wanted them to trust her, she couldn't leave anything significant behind.

"Engel I believe another question is in order at this point. Tell us, what do you believe?" Erwin spoke up knowing full well that Erika was as reliable as Eren. He'd known that much of the soldier.

Erika looked at Erwin again with bright eyes. She was happy that he knew she meant no harm.

"I-I'm not sure sir, I could be a monster, un-killable to a point… I could be an enemy." She took a pause and then wore the same pair of determined eyes Eren had worn to convince Levi he wasn't an enemy. "If I am a monster then I'll be Heichou's weapon… I'll be humanity's weapon!"  
"That's the spirit Miss Erika" Eren finally spoke as he now looked at the young woman with caring eyes.

"Well that's all I needed to hear," Levi followed up standing up from the love seat and looking at Erwin with sharp eyes. "The fact she's a titan shifter is still foggy… we should deem her a MIA that came back home. You are to stay with Eren in the dungeons for the time being until we are sure you are a titan shifter"

Erika stood up and saluted still wearing her determined expression.

"Sir yes Sir!"

"She needs good rest and some proper food right? Eren, take her to your cell and make sure your new roommate is comfortable" Erwin stood up himself followed by Eren who looked more than happy to not be alone down in the dungeons.

"I'll go get the food," Levi actually offered, against all possible character profiles of him. "Sweet bread and honeyed sausages correct?"

Erika grimaced and drooled a little before she nodded enthusiastically at the mention of her two favorite foods.

Eren noticed the change in character by the Corporal's side and decided to ask, curious, Erwin.

"Corporal sure knows her well… who _is_ she?"

Erwin chuckled at his inquiry and went on to answer it.

"That girl is the absolute worst soldier Levi has ever had as a subordinate, she was so terrible Levi knew she was going to die stupidly before she went and helped kill 8 titans on her first expedition."

**/ / and end of chapter 2! Lot's of Erika talking here, .. Sorry for any mistakes! I checked it once but I might have left things unnoticed since it's so late here. I know this story sounds like it's gonna be about Erika but it's not. It's actually more about Levi and some other character I'm introducing later than anyone else. Erika is 23 years old, she was 18 when Shinganshina was breached. I made it so the Corporal was there by then getting civilians out of the city although I'm not quite sure he was there at all because I lack the info although I've read the mange thru and thru Just so you all know from here on out it's gonna stray noticeably from the cannon story. / / **


	3. Chapter 3: Here to Serve

**WARNING: SPOILERS ON PLOT AFTER FEMALE TITAN ARC**

**Chapter 3: Here to Serve**

Erika slept on a corner by her bed snoozing quietly and tense as ever while Eren looked at her estranged. He found it cute that she slept like that, ready to jump at anything that might threaten her life. He chuckled getting closer to her, careful not to trigger her sense of self-defense. She hadn't so much as touched her bed, she must've really felt uncomfortable sleeping alone in such a comfy space. She probably didn't know how to relax properly. Eren grinned softly and got even closer to Erika deciding that he had to do something about her. He knew it was unwise to touch her, unless he wanted to risk getting hit and thrown off against something, so he called out to her sweetly to see if she would wake up.

The young woman softly opened her eyes and then looked up to meet with Eren's gaze. Her arms had tensed up around her legs but she let go as soon as she reminded herself she was inside the Walls.

"Eren?" She asked after looking for his name inside her head, she had a rough time getting words to string together so she just asked out his name at first continuing with her next set of questions a minute later. "What is it? Is it…morning, already?"

She was tense again. Tomorrow morning she had a hearing with the Military Police officials regarding her return to the Walls. They had all settled for a story to tell them in order to not risk her getting in trouble for her still doubtful inhumanity. The hearing was supposed to be on this very day but Levi and Erwin had managed to convince the officials Erika needed some rest and food before she could properly report to them. If things got too tricky, Erika could show off how she survived outside the walls. As things were, Erika had grown quicker and more knowledgeable of the land than her files indicated 5 years ago. She was bound to be dismissed as a MIA who miraculously came back.

"No, the night's barely started" Eren said as he offered his hand, the woman looking at it curiously as if it were some odd, unseen thing to her. "C'mon Miss Erika, you can't stay in that corner all night"

Erika looked at Eren's bed which lied across her own and then looked at Eren with strained, anxious eyes.

"I don't feel… safe… on it, Eren" She replied hiding her face against her legs which were tightly pressed against her chest.

"It's okay, I'll keep you safe. I promise" Eren found it adorable how much of a kid the older woman seemed to act like because she felt scared. He smiled warmly at her and signaled her to hurry and take his hand.

She hesitantly took the younger man's hand and he pulled her up, guiding her to his bed. He dropped face up on it and then made more than enough space on the bed for Erika. He tapped the space twice with his hand and told her to lie down and rest. She looked at the bed and then at the corner. She bit her lip and sat on the bed, her back facing Eren as she breathed in and out to get herself convinced she was going to be okay. Eren rolled his eyes and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her to lie beside him. He hugged her gently and dug his face in her messy, strawberry smelling blond hair.

"Took a shower huh? The scent on your hair suits you" He said unconsciously and made Erika blush red while she remained tense as she lay there with him. "You're worst than Mikasa, Miss Erika. Now close your eyes and sleep. I don't think Corporal Levi would like to see you didn't sleep properly even with a bed to lie on"

"Y-Yeah" She stuttered and just remained tense until she realized Eren wasn't going to let go of her anytime soon.

She relaxed and not long after she did she fell asleep. Making sure Erika wasn't leaving bed as she was dead asleep, Eren chuckled softly and closed his eyes himself more than happy to have company, a lady at that, to sleep with in a hell of a long time.

* * *

"Jeager, Engel get your asses off bed or your corner and let's go. It's time for Erika's—" Levi was talking as he walked to the cell the pair of soldiers slept in.

He stopped to eye Eren's bed curiously before he just shook his head and decided it'd be a good idea to scare the beejezus out of the lovely couple inside. Erika was holding on to Eren as Eren held her in his arms both of them sound asleep. It was a good thing Erika wasn't sleeping on the ground, but he was sure Eren had taken advantage of the situation somehow.

"JEAGER. ENGEL." Levi exclaimed loud and firmly making both soldiers wake up and bolt to a stand as they saluted the Corporal in their sleeping garments.

"Sir!" They both said in sync as they had been caught by surprise by their higher up.

"Erika, you come with me, Jeager get ready for today's duties and meet us at Erwin's office." Levi went on to open the cell and in the short moment he took to open up and move his head to tell Erika to get out, the two soldiers had a short exchange.

"Heichou calls you by your name, that means something doesn't it?" Eren thought that maybe Levi had a deeper bond with Erika than with his other subordinates and higher ups.

"Eren you can… call me 'Erika' too, you know" She replied oblivious to the teenager's insinuation and smiled at him innocently.

Levi actually listened to her reply only and went on to look at Eren with a raised eyebrow.

"Engel hurry up"

"Yes Sir!"

* * *

"That was intense…" Erika said out loud as she sighed in exhaustion. Levi noticed she was getting faster at talking, soon it was sure she was going to speak normally again. "Heichou you don't think they'll, trouble us for the time being?"

Levi walked besides the woman wearing a pleased expression on his face. The hearing, which had been carried out at the Justice House of Stohess, had gone quite well. There was a moment they feared the Military Police might take Erika away from them because they weren't pleased with their story but the woman acted accordingly and showed her scars to them giving out stories for them. Both Levi and Erwin knew that those wounds were from her last run to the Wall, the last days she spent outside the Wall. Her truthful eyes and her telling of her story were enough to convince them she was a true MIA that had come back due to a miracle.

"They won't be a bother to us for the time being… Erika, I'm afraid I have to introduce you to someone that might want to try some nasty things to you" Levi replied looking at Erika with a deadpanned expression.

"It's alright Lehv e heichou, If it helps with the fight against titans then I'll be more than willing. Anything to serve you my Corporal" She spoke fluently and smiled brightly as she did. "I'm ready to die if needed be for humanity Sir"

It was amazing how much she meant those words. If there was a first hand difference between the stupid Eren and the moron Erika it was that Erika was more than willing to let herself be executed if the MP officials had deemed it necessary to keep humanity safe. She was obedient, a complete clutz nevertheless, but she always followed commands. She thought of the group, not the individual. She was more than willing to drop a damned building on herself if it meant her team mates would escape.

"Fine, just don't get to excited to die out there" He wasn't planning on encouraging her self-sacrificing attitude, although that's what the Scouting Legion was probably all about when it came to saving humanity, he just didn't want to see her die again because of that protective nature of hers.

Erika pursed her lips and then spoke up.

"I won't get myself killed on the first chance I get sir, I promise"

"You better not, we lied to higher ups just to keep you in the Legion alive"

"Corporal!" The same young man that had come to tell Levi of the oddity found in Karanese came rushing to the couple. "There are titans in Wall Rose, there has been a breach sir!"

"What?"

Erika looked at the messenger with huge frightened eyes. Levi turned to Erika and told her I'd be fine and that they needed to get their asses to Erwin's office immediately to see how this would act up. The woman nodded and together they darted to the Legion's HQ in Stohess.

* * *

Erika fumbled with her fingers as she rode a cart apart from the Corporal and Eren. A breach on the Wall… no, it made no sense. She searched her memories of the time she spent outside the Wall and got nothing useful from them yet there was something way back on her head that told her it was no breach.

"_It's too odd isn't it? The time the titans were spotted, how no alarms went off at the other districts… don't you think you know what's going on here?_" Her conscience kept bugging her, the more she tried to understand what was going on, the more of a headache she got out of it.

They were headed for the Hermiha Disctrict. Levi had been assigned to watch over a priest from The Wall Sect while the others worked on a plan to patch the supposed breach on the Wall. She was to stay with Levi because of her unknown species status. Until they were sure of what she was, Levi didn't want to leave her out of his sight. Eren wasn't much of a threat anymore, having proven himself capable of getting things done and with Hanji to watch over him.

The carts came to a stop and she looked forward, they had arrived at the entrance to Hermiha and Eren could be seen running to her cart probably to say good bye.

"Erika!" He exclaimed as he came closer. "I wanted to say good bye to you… also I wanted to tell you we'll take care of that breach"

"Well you better make sure not to get hurt" She replied and smiled timidly at him blushing slightly.

"You really are a lot like Mikasa! You're not planning on carrying me away on a fit are you?" Eren joked yanking a giggle out of Erika even though she had no idea who Mikasa was.

"Don't worry about that! If I went with you I'd make sure there wouldn't be a reason to carry you away" Erika replied both of them breaking into a fit of giggles.

"Sorry we have to say bye here, I really wish we could have had more time together" Eren smiled sweetly at her and went on to get on the cart and kiss her forehead. "Let's hang out more when this is all over okay?"

Erika blushed a deep red and stumbled on her words as she tried to word out a reply. She ended up nodding and looking away embarrassed as Eren just looked at her carefully. She was adorable in the 15 year old's eyes, and he doubted he'd ever stop looking at her in that way. He got off the cart and waved good bye at Erika as he ran off to his own. Soon after that, the carts started moving again to enter the Hermiha district.

Eren had hopped on to the cart with a smile on his face, he looked way too happy for Mikasa and Armin standards and so they were forced to act for the reason of his escapade to another cart. Eren scratched the back of his head as Hanji squealed in excitement.

"You went to see her right?! The Karanese girl!"

Mikasa glared at Eren when he nodded at Hanji, Armin looked intrigued by the knowledge of Eren going off to see a girl and Levi just wore a somewhat smug grin on his face knowing full well that those two were awfully close.

"Levi if you don't watch out, he'll steal Erika from you!" Hanji said looking too excited for the sort of thing they were talking about. Apparently the titan obsessed woman had other interests in life after all.

"Oh yeah, what a real bummer. Eren how much do you want for Erika AND Hanji?" Levi joked with his usual deadpanned face making the others laugh safe for Mikasa who was still processing the information about the 'Erika' girl.

As Mikasa talked with Hanji about Erika and Armin tried to get Mikasa to calm down, Eren decided it to be a good idea to talk to Levi.

"Corporal, Hanji's right you know… she likes you. You shouldn't make her worry like Petra did." He said and that made Levi sigh and look down at his feet. How on earth did those two even reach that conclusion anyway? "Sir, with all due respect, Erika came back to see you again. Don't underestimate her feelings… You should do something about them."

"Yeah and you should open your god damned eyes brat" Levi replied getting annoyed by how much people just assumed he and Erika were something more than friends. What annoyed him more was that Eren assumed Erika liked him when he clearly wasn't the one she had been clinging to last night. "Tch, if for some reason she jumps that wall to find you, you better take good care of her Jeager"

"Huh?!"

**/ / Lots of Eren/Erika in this chapter, she reminds him too much of Mikasa. Not sure if Levi/Erika is stronger than Eren/Erika but off the romantic whatever topic you can all be sure that she's not going to stay passive and shy much longer. Contrary to the original plot, the breach happened a few days after the Female Titan Arc and in this case they might take more time to reach Wall Rose than in the series. After that, I'll try to keep the story linear to the manga, same conclusion to the latest chapter but with a different path. Thanks for reading! / / **


	4. Chapter 4: Kiev

**Chapter 4: Kiev**

Erika fell asleep peacefully on Levi's bed after the long trip they had taken on one day. She crawled on to the fluffy bed and had fallen unconscious only when Levi sat beside her. He found it funny how she couldn't fall asleep if someone wasn't with her in bed. Eren had definitely spoiled her and Levi couldn't really judge him OR her.

The last few hours had been a blur for the Corporal. He had escorted Pastor Nick throughout Hermiha so that the man could see what keeping secrets from them was causing. In the end, the man's will to not break his vows didn't give in. In spite of this fact, he still had given them a valuable piece of information. He talked about a girl named Historia Reiss, she could decide to tell them everything she knew about the Walls's secrets. The brats recognized the girl by description and had told Levi and Hanji the name they knew her by was Christa Renz.

After all of that was settled and the squads that were to patch up the breach were dispatched, Levi headed once again back to his room in the inn to check on Erika. He found her curled up in bed snoozing a little more to the right than where he had left her. He sighed relieved she was resting so peacefully. He was kind of worried she might not sleep well because of her danger issues. Apparently her tiredness won against her problem, fact that was good this once. He sat by the window on the room and looked outside not really gazing at anything in particular. He was analyzing what the brats and Hanji were going to do, if they really could pull off such a feat as sealing a breach on Wall Rose then they could really go ahead and recover Wall Maria. Levi sighed again and got on his feet to pace around the room. He really wished he could _do_ something, if it wasn't for his leg then he would have gone with the brats and Hanji. It bugged him immensely but he wouldn't dare do anything reckless. He hated the thought of losing lives unnecessarily; he of all people loathed it with colossal intensity.

"Something the matter Levi?"

Levi stopped on his feet and turned in the direction of the voice only to find himself confused as to who he was looking at. Erika sat on the bed with her legs crossed staring at Levi with bored, glowing red eyes. The voice, which must have come from her, was not her normal voice. It was something a little deeper and it just didn't resemble a girl's voice much less Erika's. Levi stared mercilessly at this different person in front of him, what had happened to Erika and just who was sitting so unworried before him.

"Heichou? Why are you staring at me like that? Hmmm, why don't you come here and sit with me?" The unknown person spoke again and chuckled mischievously. "I'm lonely heichou..."

"Well sorry to disappoint you, but there's no way that with that voice I'll do anything with you." Levi replied and went on to quickly nail down the bored Erika against the bed. "Mind explaining me who the fuck are you?"

The red eyed Erika laughed, feeling the pressure of the man's body on her and deeming it a slightly inhuman level of strength. She moved her leg despite Levi looking at her with such intense and rage filled eyes and pressed her knee against Levi's crotch.

"Well, hey there little man. My name is Kiev and I'm humanity's ultimate weapon"

Completely ignoring Kiev's actions, Levi took the other's shoulders and gave them a strong squeeze as he pushed down harder. Kiev only smiled cockishly as he went on to rub Levi's crotch with his leg. The being inside Erika was pissing the hell out of the Corporal and all he wanted to do was punch the living lights out of it.

"Whatever your purpose here is bastard, you are not getting it accomplished like that. Ultimate weapon? More like ultimate moron" Levi replied coolly.

"Ouch, tough luck for a defenseless girl like me then" The red eyed Erika's voice had changed back to its original tone but it was more than obvious, even if she didn't have the red eyes, that her actions at the moment as well as her arrogant smile were not hers.

"_C'mon Lehv e heichou, I deserve a welcome back gift don't I?_" Kiev spoke in sing song, managing to pull out a rather irresistible invitation that Levi would have accepted if he wasn't the man he was.

He looked at the overconfident being underneath him with hate filled eyes and after a few seconds of thinking about it, he went on to punch Kiev on the face as hard as he knew wouldn't kill him. Even holding back to avoid a death blow in the position they were, Levi felt Erika's bones give way under the pressure of his fist and once he had punched the girl he stood up and waited.

Kiev was immobile for a few seconds, long seconds the Corporal spent thinking that perhaps he had hit her too hard and on a stupid anger thriven impulse, before she sat up and started laughing hysterically. Vapor fumed out of the being's mouth and nose as she spat blood unto the carpet below.

"Wow, you really are strong heichou!" The boyish voice was back and Levi tched at the piece of information he had just confirmed with his violent actions.

"You're definitely not Erika at all. You're not even a woman to begin with… you're her titan form aren't you?"

"Right on the mark from the first guess! You're also very smart for a human" Kiev spoke and crossed his legs as he sat on bed. "I can see why Erika admires you so much, you're not half bad at all"

"Speak, what happened to Erika in Shinganshina?" Levi wasn't about to let Kiev fool around with him, he wanted answers and he was going to get them one way or another.

"Geez, you're way too uptight…" Kiev rolled his eyes and stood up. "What happened to Erika in Shinganshina you ask? Well…she died" he smirked and walked closer to Levi.

The Corporal stood still on his spot as the other man wrapped his arms around his shoulders and looked at him with clever eyes. Levi knew the other wasn't going to try anything too funny, the bastard was enjoying the whole situation too much to spoil it so soon, and so he waited for Kiev's reply not willing to show any reaction or emotion on his face.

"She wasn't supposed to live… not after getting her arm and shoulder eaten…"

* * *

"Heichou I can't believe we lost Wall Maria to them" Erika sighed out stressed as she looked down with a sad expression. "Even though so many died..."  
"Could you stop tormenting yourself about this? It's that very nature of yours that's going to get you killed you idiot" Levi spoke to her with his usual sassy tone and deadpanned expression. He petted Erika's head softly and she looked at him with an enraged expression.  
"Stop that! Who the hell do you think you are huh? You don't get to pat me like a dog Lehv e Heichou!" She exclaimed angry as she glared at Levi hatefully.  
Everyone in their squad, three other people, laughed at her reaction as Levi wore a soft grin on his face. She crossed her arms and pursed her lips as they continued their way out of the Shinganshina district. They still had a dangerous way to go before they could reach the safety of Wall Rose and so they all needed to be extra careful about their surroundings. Even if it was for a short while they had managed to get some laughs in this dire and dangerous situation and because of that one moment, they had all signed up for the sacrifice that was to come.  
As they all replayed the whole joke in their heads, Erika noticed something the others, including Levi, hadn't yet.  
"_Behind the building! Something's coming in fast!"_ She thought as she turned around to stare at the empty street behind them.  
"Heichou!" She exclaimed realizing where exactly the titan was coming in through.  
Levi turned to look at Erika as the 9 meter tall titan came in crushing the building directly behind Erika and badly damaging the ones beside it. _"No! Look out_

Time seemed to stop as the rubble sprung everywhere. Erika reacted quite faster than Levi did and before the giant piece of building could land right on the man, Erika had used her 3DM gear to soar through the air and push Levi out of the way. They landed far away from the block and Erika stood up and glared at the titan that was recovering from going through the building.  
"Your senses are getting dull sir, take the others away I'll finish this one off"  
"Erika you can't afford to do this alone, that one's a deviant and it was after us..."  
"With all due respect sir, this one's mine. Get out of here, Ill join you shortly" Erika didn't wait for Levi's approval she just went off with her gear and holding her blades firmly. Levi admired her stubbornness at times, it had saved them in the past after all, but this time he had a sour taste in his mouth about all of this. He wanted to yell at her not to do this alone and he really wanted to go and help her, but things were unraveling too fast around him. Erika was fast on her gear and when she was slaying titans she didn't have inside her a single trace of the clutz she was. She moved and thought faster when under pressure, when a single inhalation could change the course of things. Levi was a slowpoke compared to her, even when he was called humanity's strongest soldier. The titan moved, Levi held his blades in his hands ready to attack, Erika saw the whole scene play in her head before it happened.  
"NO!" She exclaimed and dived in to use her 3DM gear cords to wrap the titan up.  
Levi watched the scene play out with wide eyes. Erika had screamed and the other squad members had snapped out of their surprise to actually grab their captain and get him out of the way. The titan crashed against one of the weakened buildings, the closest one to Levi, with Erika on its nape. She smiled sweetly, the man saw her, and even had time to mouth out "_Lehv-e heichou… I'm sorry…"_ before she jumped up and maneuvered her way to apparently cut off the titan's nape. He didn't see more of her, the cloud of dust hid her and for what was left of the scene she couldn't have survived. She had been crushed by the building, she had brought the building on to herself. The fucking retarded idiot had killed herself for their sake.

* * *

"When the building fell on her she had a chance, a moment to escape you know… but she thought the titan she sought to murder was going to escape with her. So she turned with her gear towards the titan to make sure it was going to die. Before the building crushed them both, the titan ate her whole arm along with her shoulder… and even when half her body was crushed under the rubble she hadn't died yet" Kiev was talking softly and carefully despite his cocky look. Levi knew that for more that the other tried to make it seem as if it meant nothing to him, he just couldn't help being sad and pained for his host body's fortune. Kiev's true feelings, the Corporal had noticed, showed off clearly on his bright red eyes.

"I am not sure myself of how it happened but the moment she finally slipped away is when I took over. I regenerated her limbs and believing she had left her body to me, I lived out my life for two years hunting and doing monkey business in Shinganshina and the outskirts of the district… and then she woke up. I remember how terrified she was, how she couldn't understand how she was alive… and how awfully terrified she was at the thought of you being dead because of a mistake she didn't commit. She fought all that time she was out in Wall Maria because she needed to go back to you, to her home. Her only drive was seeing you alive and thanks to that we are both here now." Kiev's cocky smile fell apart and turned into a sad smile, he looked directly into Levi's eyes and then just remained silent waiting for the man's next jab.

"So you don't know anything else? Tch, thanks for keeping her alive but she doesn't need filth like you inside her" Levi didn't let down his guard down, even when he knew Kiev wasn't in the mood to even attempt something funny like before.

"Fuck you Lance Corporal, she might not need me but the humanity you all so dearly want to protect does" Kiev spoke seriously and tightened his arms around Levi's shoulders. "I am loyal to Erika and that means I'm loyal to _you_"

"What do you mean by loyal to…?" Levi continued talking but stopped midway when Kiev's face got a whole lot closer to his.

"I meant what I meant Levi" He grinned cockishly again before planting a soft kiss on the Corporal's lips.

Levi was about to push him away, a little late on his reaction, when Erika's body fell limp in his arms. Kiev was gone and the one who slept ever so peaceful in his arms was the cheerful Erika Engel. She mid opened her eyes for a moment, the green orbs filled with drowsy confusion. She looked at Levi and grinned softly.

"Lehv e heichou…" She said gently as she closed her eyes newly and continued sleeping as she was.

He placed his hand on her hair and petted her lovingly like he used to do to tease her in the past.

"Humanity's ultimate weapon huh? Just what the hell happened to you…" More questions flooded the Corporal's mind.

What was Kiev? Ultimate Weapon? Why Erika? What kind of shifter was she? Why was she different from Eren? What the HELL was happening?

Even when all those questions and more menaced to drown him in stressful insomnia for the next few days, one outshined the others in how much he needed to know the answer.

"Who did this to you?"

**/ / End of chapter 4! Here's Kiev for you, isn't he charming? ****The boy has problems besides being stuck in a girl's body**** I took a long time to write this even though it was such a short chapter to begin with! I added in a flashback scene to avoid a short explanation by Kiev's part of what Levi already knew, more like I thought it better to show you guys instead of Kiev just saying it. Kiev's an asshole but he's really soft on the inside. Next chapter's tentative name is "Vigilante", feel free to speculate what will happen and see you next time! Again, thanks so much for reading! / /**


	5. Chapter 5: The Girl's Determination

**Chapter 5: The Girl's Determination**

Levi stared at her figure as she contemplated the grounds below the Wall. She was dressed in her uniform safe for the jacket that had the legion's logo on it. Her 3DM Gear was ready to go, although she didn't have any blades or sheaths with her at that time. Erika had her hands tightened into fists. They were wrapped in bandages the corporal supposed were to avoid scratching them too badly because of whatever she was thinking on doing. He hadn't gotten accustomed to her pixie cut and had a short moment of doubt towards her identity when he saw her. But her reaction once she looked at him after she felt tremendously ogled at confirmed who she was. When she face him, she bit on her lower lip as she had a small heart attack and almost tripped on air.

"Lehv e heichou?!" Erika exclaimed in her freak out moment, she pressed her hands against her sides and looked from Levi to the ground below over and over again. "I-I, it's not what it looks like!"

"Not what it looks like my ass, get the fuck away from the edge you idiot!" Levi angrily commanded as he took a step closer while glaring at Erika.

"N-No!" She stepped closer to the Wall's edge and took in a deep breath.

"What are you planning? Are you seriously planning on jumping the wall and running all the way to Eren because of some stupid reason soldier?!" Levi stood still as he realized the more he moved forward the more Erika might actually be compelled to jump off.

"No it's not that! It's just…" She took her right hand to her chest and shook her head. "There is something I must do, I have to find it…I have to finish off what I was meant to finish off"

Erika looked at Levi with sadness filled eyes and did her best to smile at her captain.

They both stood still staring at each other in silent awkwardness. How come every time this woman decided to speak about titans it meant he'd be left with more interrogatives?! Erika sighed and looked below the wall again and moved slowly towards the edge.

"Erika you can't just leave and not tell me what you have to finish off!" Levi walked closer to Erika and stopped when she let her right feet hover beyond the edge.

"Heichou, If I don't stop it, if I don't stop the beast titan…" She looked away again and then back at Levi to smile. "Don't hold it against me heichou, I just needed to know you were alive before I remembered..."

She let herself fall backwards off the wall and Levi reacted fast enough to grab her hand. She looked at him with desperate, sad eyes and begged him to let her go. He didn't reply to her pleas and instead went on to try and pull her up. Her eyes turned cold as she became more than determined on what she was capable of doing to get her mission done. The girl put her feet against the Wall and her deadly sharp eyes stared into Levi's. He had never seen Erika like this, not even when she fought titans in Shinganshina, it sent chills down his spine that he might have never seen such a serious Erika before, the mere thought of the woman hanging from his grip right now fighting titans made his body shake. She wasn't the same clumsy clutz Erika, how could she ever be that same idiot after being out of the Walls for five years? The realization gave the Corporal goose bumps, how on earth could he have ever assumed she was the same?

"I'm sorry Corporal, but this is why I was made" Erika continued and in a swift move, pushed herself away from Levi's grasp falling to the ground below.

Levi watched her fall, the sudden shock of seeing a different Erika had deprived him of all his spontaneous reaction instincts. He wanted to yell at her not to go, he wanted to hold her hand and scold her for being such an idiot, but he couldn't. Instead he watched her drop and use her maneuver gear to land safely on the ground. When Erika seemed to hesitate about her decision down below, Levi snapped out of his shock and managed to finally yell at her.

"You fucking MORON! Who the hell do you think you are?! You can't just do things on your own! It's humanity against the titans, not moronic idiot against the titans!" He wasn't sure whether Erika could hear him or not, he just felt he had to try and tell her.

The girl brusquely looked up and then shook her head before she jolted away on all fours like some sort of cat leaving Levi to watch her run away with mixed emotions. How did he end up watching her leave?

It all started that very morning, the morning of the day after Eren and the other's left to patch the breach. Levi had woken up early to deal with some duties left to him by Hanji and Erwin and had left Erika sleeping like a log on their bed. Having the need to tell Erika to not do anything stupid while he was out in Hermiha, he went back to his room after an hour to find a still sleeping Erika. He rolled his eyes annoyed by how lazy the woman seemed right now and went on to call out to her loudly.  
"Erika Engel, get the hell up!" He said making the girl jolt up in bed and salute, her messy bedhair making her terrifying sight to behold. Levi's eye twitched before he just rolled his eyes for the second time in the last ten minutes.  
"Erika you need to eat breakfast or something. You have training to do in the evening and i don't think sleeping in late helps you at all..." Erika nodded at him with big round eyes and stood up from bed careful not to fall off considering she still was sleepy despite her big eyes being wide open. "Also, you must do something about your hair, cut it. If you still maneuver the way you did before Shinganshina then it'll get in the way."  
"C-cut it sir?!" Erika was asking how short, but the words that came out made it seem as if she was questioning the command. Levi could see through that though and answered the girl's question appropriately.  
"Yes, short."  
"Sir yes sir!" She replied and started heading towards her uniform which rested on top of a table on the opposite side to the bed. Levi was about to turn and say goodbye when Erika tripped on her own feet and landed face first on the floor.  
"Don't do anything too stupid while I'm gone, and eat something...I'll come for you by lunch time alright?" Levi sighed and opened the door to exit the room.  
"Yes sir!" Erika replied standing up quickly and rubbing her nose.

Levi arrived at their room after getting checked up by a doctor in Hermiha. It wasn't recommended that he went out to fight titans but his leg was already quite recovered. He could ride on horse no problem as long as he didn't strain himself too much. The moment he opened the door he had to hold in a sense of surprise. Erika stood by the bed with a long mirror in front of her and a pair of scissors held up to her hair. Long strands of hair already lay on the towel below her and as she cut off another strand she noticed Levi's reflection on her mirror.

"Ah! Lehv e Heichou! I'm cutting my hair as ordered sir!" She replied turning to see Lehv e with a soft smile.

"Well, get on it soldier. I want to go have some lunch soon" Levi replied and went on to sit by the window on the love seat.

Erika nodded and continued cutting her hair. The Corporal couldn't help but watch with wonder how the blond woman cut her hair into a pixie cut. She looked incredibly concentrated in what she was doing especially when she worked on the back of her head. She had some harsh time there but managed to cut properly afterwards. Once she checked multiple times for rogue strands of hair, she turned around to look at the corporal.

"Heichou does this look okay? Is it proper enough?"

The Corporal raised an eyebrow at her question and actually chuckled.

"You look like a girly boy Erika"

The girl looked at the Corporal with a mortified expression and looked down at her cut off hair lying in tatters on the ground. Levi walked over to the girl and ruffled her short hair lovingly.

"You look perfect, it suits you"

Erika looked up to him and smiled brightly as her cheeks turned a soft pink color. She nodded and after she cleaned up her mess, they both went off to eat lunch.

They ended up going to a cafe near the inn. Their meal went by nicely, Levi told Erika about his morning and the news on his legs and once that talk was over, Levi asked Erika for tips on hunting out on the wall. The conversation that ensued from that one question was not only interesting but incredibly hilarious. Imagining Erika running around chasing rabbits was far too hilarious in Levi's head and the way she told her stories weren't helping the picturing either.

"Ah! We should totally go hunting together some time! There's a lot of stuff I can show a city guy like you!" Erika said as she finished her coffee.

"No kidding" Levi replied taking a sip from his tea.

Erika giggled and then made a funny face that pressed Levi to ask what was wrong with her. She bit on her lower lip and then stood up with crossed legs.

"I need to pee"

"What kind of grown ass woman would say that out loud?"

She looked at him with a strained face and then walked off, in a very silly manner, to the bathroom. He went on to just grin at the funny spectacle and continued drinking his tea. After two minutes, a nasty feeling settled in his gut. He wanted to believe it was the tea he was drinking, a cause of the place not being properly sanitized or something, but when Erika didn't come back after ten minutes he just figured something was terribly wrong.

"Sir!" A maid, different from the one who had been serving them up until now, spoke as she went over to their table and offered the Corporal a note. "A young man asked me to give you this before he left"

Levi took the note from the woman and asked her for the check. As he waited, he read the note only to get pissed off at its contents.

"_Levi, she's planning to jump the wall. It won't be easy to catch up to her but if you hurry you just might. You're already late, hurry –Kiev"_

Levi paid his check and darted off first to the inn, Erika wouldn't leave without her gear. He got there too late, they informed him Erika had just left when he got there. He continued to run after Erika's trail and eventually he caught up to her on the Wall...

* * *

Levi couldn't help but remain frozen in his spot as he realized he had failed Kiev, Erika's titan form. He hadn't quite understood the being when he told him that he was loyal to Erika which meant he was loyal to the Corporal but now he did. Kiev wasn't just a weapon with its own interests, the being cared for Erika deeply enough to protect her even when it meant going against her wishes. He tched at that thought and gathered his character decided on doing what was right in this situation. He just really hoped Erika wouldn't hold it against him for too long.

**/ / I am back! Sort of! I got half of chapter 6 already written out so expect it this week if I don't run into school work and life. So this chapter has added more interrogatives. Levi's out of character I believe (that's on purpose) and Erika is acting like a runaway child. Kiev helps out the Corporal by giving him a note and I think my break from writing rubbed off on this chapter. If you see any mistakes anywhere please tell me! Next chapter we'll have more Erika and Kiev as well as [maybe spoil spoil?] the beast titan. It's gonna be a long chapter! Thanks for reading guys~! / /**


	6. Chapter 6: You're Not Alone

**Chapter 6: You're Not Alone**

Erika rode on a young, light brown mare silently in the direction of the supposed breach. She knew enough to assume where it was from what she had heard on the carts not to mention she could also smell Eren's scent perfectly out in the rural area, it was child's play for her to track the whole squad down. Erika had managed to find a wild horse while she ran away from Wall Sina and she convinced it to let her ride on it using the skills she had gathered on her five years out of the Walls.

If only she hadn't hesitated on jumping the Wall, she would have left without Levi having to watch her leave. She couldn't help but hesitate though; right now she was running on impulse, on a single memory of before she woke up.

"_Kill the beast titan and humanity might have a chance_"

She felt that telling the Corporal about that foggy and non consistent piece of information might've lead to a dangerous plan. If something the likes of a beast titan existed in this world and she had to be made to deal with it then that meant that the thing was nothing the legion could handle on their own.

_"It's humanity against the titans, not moronic idiot against the titans!"_Levi's voice echoed in the back of her head.

The Corporal she remembered wouldn't yell at her like that, he'd always keep his cool. She figured that after she died, he must have seen far more people die like she did and that ultimately led to his reaction to her jumping off and going vigilante. Her eyes watered and soon a few tears ran down her cheeks. She dried them off while sobbing and continued riding, the sun was already setting and thankfully she had yet to encounter titans which made her believe more on her theory of there not being a breach. Her gut told her this was all due to the beast titan, she couldn't really prove it but she knew there was no breach. Erika had hinted Levi on her mission, if she hadn't fully informed him, and now she was kind of afraid he would go ahead and search for her.

"_If you're so worried about his well being, why don't you turn this horse around and go back to him?_" Her conscience bugged her, she had been fighting against that annoying voice all evening and it did not cease to question her decision. "_You really think you can do this alone? You'll get eaten and what good will your death be for humanity?" _

Shut up. Shut up. Shut up! She continuously repeated in her head trying to silence her conscience, it worked for a short while before it started up again.

"_You're an idiot, what about the kid you like so much? What would he do if you died?_"

SHUT UP.

With that her conscience remained silent and Erika continued riding with watery eyes and red cheeks. It wasn't long after that that she ran in with an abandoned village and she decided to take a few minutes of break before continuing on. She got off her mare and stretched. Afterwards, she started walking around the village to make sure nothing would jump her. At first the village seemed just abandoned but Erika's nose soon switched from Eren's scent to a pungent blood scent.

She continued moving around the village and stopped when the scent became too strong. She freaked out when she saw a large puddle of dried up blood and no body to be seen. She almost broke down at the sight but she gathered herself recalling the more terrifying things she had seen in Shinganshina. The reason behind her break down lied in the fact that she was scared of finding Levi or Eren dead. She had been outside living with titans but she was alone, there was no reason to worry for others where she was.

She maneuvered her way to one of the house ceilings and started looking around for any trace of titans. She sniffed the air and made her best effort to separate the blood scent from all the others scents in the area. She smelled something different, something similar to a dirty dog and set her eyes to look in the direction the scent came from. Miles away, almost out of her view, moved a tall pillar. She glared at the thing and hurried to get down from the ceiling and reach her mare. She mounted the friendly animal and set out towards the moving pillar. If she was lucky, if her new friend could run fast enough, then she could reach the pillar before it escaped her.

It was already night time by the time she reached the pillar. As she had expected, it wasn't a pillar at all. It was a huge titan, hairy and ape like. She knew this was the one she had to kill. In order to not risk her mare's life, she continued her way on foot once the titan was within reach. The horse left after Erika thanked it and soon the blond woman was bolting towards the beast titan.

"_Erika you can't do this! It's not paying attention to you, hurry and get out of here while you still can!" _ Her conscience resurfaced to try and get her to reason her decision, but the woman ignored it. "_Dammit you idiot don't do this! What are you even planning to kill it with?! _"

She tightened her grip on her gear's operating triggers and jumped to get on the titan. She maneuvered her way around the titan until she reached its nape. She was faster than Levi but apparently not fast enough. When she was about to kick the thing's nape she was caught by one big hairy hand. She struggled in its grasp and continued to do so even when the beast titan was looking right at her.

"You are an interesting one" The titan spoke, making Erika look at it with hate filled eyes. "Humans can be so interesting when determined...yet you don't smell quite human."

"I'll kill you! I won't let you get away with any of this!" Erika exclaimed and bit into the titan's hand ripping out a chunk of flesh.

"Are you planning on killing me with just your teeth human child? You truly are interesting but quite a nuisance" The beast titan tightened his grip on Erika. "It would have been interesting to meet you in a fight where you actually had a chance"

* * *

Levi rode in a hurry at the rural area of Wall Rose. He had no time to ask for permission if he wanted to retrieve Erika so he sent a message to Erwin telling him where he was going to be. He rode his horse at top speed, he knew Erika was heading towards the breach, be it for whatever reason she had it was the only reference that woman could use to reach her goal. Night time had settled in and it was starting to get hard for Levi to see where he was going. He figured that with no torch he wouldn't be able to see but he never really thought Erika would be so far away from him. Riding all evening and no signs of her, that woman was a beast on her feet and she could have already reached her goal… or she could have gotten killed. Now that he thought about it, she didn't have any weapons on her when she jumped, Erika must've either been in too much hurry to properly think things through or she had another way of killing titans. It wouldn't surprise him…thinking more about it, if Kiev was her titan form and he didn't grow to be 15 meters tall like Eren how exactly did he fend off the titans that tried to eat Erika?

While thinking all of this Levi noticed a figure moving towards him. He got ready to jump in case it was a titan and as the figure moved closer he noticed it was a horse with someone on it. Curious to see who else was riding out this time of the night in this region, Levi rode to meet with the horse. The mare came to a stop a few meters away from Levi and he rode the distance to find himself with a bloodied body on top of an unsaddled horse. He got off his horse and went on to inspect the body more clearly, the dark was making it really hard for him to see.

"Levi…is that you…?" A familiar male voice spoke and the Corporal fell into realization of who was the bloodied body in front of him.

"Kiev? What the hell happened? What kind of bullshit did Erika get into?"

Kiev chuckled a little before he started coughing.

"She's lucky… the thing decided not to eat her and just threw her aside once it finished crushing all the bones in her body…gave me enough time to protect her vitals…and heal the bones that threatened to fuck her up…" Kiev explained his breathing irregular and his voice low and weak. "I need to rest for a few…so I can finish healing her up…"

When Kiev didn't continue talking or made any snide remarks, Levi had to think that the being had passed out. Neither Erika nor Kiev was there to explain what the hell had happened. So Erika apparently was crushed by a titan, and Kiev had mentioned it didn't _decide_ to eat her. Titan's didn't think rationally for all he knew, so a titan couldn't exactly _decide_ anything. Levi relieved the mare of the weight on her back and the animal waited there. Levi got on his horse, Kiev settled in front of him, and noticed the mare moving around as if to tell him to follow it. He went on to follow the mare and soon the animal led him to a lone house in the middle of a crops field. The house had stables close to it and that's where Levi dismounted his horse with the now fuming Kiev. The body the Corporal carried was hot to the touch and so he had to be fast on moving the body as it expulsed vapor. In the house he found a couch and settled Kiev on it. He wasn't worried about titans or strangers in the vicinity, the horses' behavior was enough proof they were safer here than in other places for the moment. He sat on another couch near the one Kiev was recovering on and sighed. Being in this situation sucked, Levi hated taking rash decisions that weren't considered smart and he hated being pushed into making them even more.

Having nothing else to do while Kiev kept healing, Levi went on to look around the house they had intruded in. It was a small house, just one floor, two small bed rooms, a small kitchen and the living room they were in which had a small dining table opposite to the couch Levi had been sitting on. The people who lived here were clean enough, Levi thought, but the place could use some more expert cleaning. He paced around the house trying to make time pass faster and soon he found himself cleaning the house.

"…Levi…?" Levi heard Kiev talk and left what he was doing to go see him.

"Finally decided to wake up? Care to tell me what happened now?" Levi returned to his place on the couch as Kiev sat up and rubbed his head. "Why did Erika run away from Sina?"

"She ran away because she's an idiot." Kiev replied chuckling and while he looked at Levi's face. "She remembered something when you told her to cut her hair, she tripped as a reaction to it. Apparently whoever made me had a specific objective for us to accomplish which is to kill the beast titan."

Levi stared at Kiev with a raised eyebrow and the being could only stare at him with an unreadable expression.

"The deal is, I know for sure that we can't beat the thing. That titan is old, I could go ahead and say that it's far older than the walls. That thing is out of our league, we couldn't possibly beat it… but Erika doesn't know I'm here in her and as a result she ignores my warnings most of the time. I find it stupid that I can't keep her safe as I could in the five years she was out."

"So you're telling me you remembered something from when Erika was turned into a titan shifter. Besides what you just told me, is there anything else you know?" Levi wanted answers, it didn't matter how upset Kiev was at the current moment even though it did strike a chord in the Corporal's mind that the titan being was acting like he was.

"I swear Levi, I have told you all I know and all I remember. If there's something I have to add is that we should warn the guys that were heading to the supposed breach about the beast titan." Kiev replied attempting to stand up only to sit back down as his body was still aching from healing.

"Okay… one more question and then we can leave. How did you fend off titans out in Wall Maria?"

"With my teeth and hardened skin… living outside gives you an excuse for good teeth and I can harden my skin and make my extremities into blades." Kiev replied attempting to stand up again and succeeding. "Now can we leave? I'll change to Erika and you can…"

Kiev stopped talking when the Corporal's face had suddenly become close to his. Kiev froze on his spot and could only stare into Levi's stunning gray eyes. The Corporal was so close their noses rubbed together, it made Kiev nervous and wary of him.

"Hey there, my name is Levi and I'm humanity's strongest soldier" Levi said teasingly as he wore the most mischievous smile he had in his limited repertoire of expressions.

Not willing to back down from the corporal's approach, Kiev grinned and wrapped his arms around the other's neck. If this was a game, the red eyed man wasn't about to back down from it no matter how stupid it seemed.

"Well what has gotten into you Levi?" He asked with a flirty tone, he really hadn't thought of using such tone but it slipped past his lips naturally.

Levi didn't know what he was doing himself despite looking otherwise. The idea of getting this close to Kiev had come as a fleeting one, he didn't think his body would act on it before he discarded it. Perhaps the other man's apparent humanity had pushed him to react this way. A titan wasn't supposed to feel, he wasn't supposed to think rationally… why did Kiev even have a name? Something in the back of his screamed Kiev's existence made no common sense in the world, something screamed Kiev was more human than what all the evidence led to believe. Human... Kiev was too human, Levi realized. In his head some pieces of a puzzle he didn't know he was solving fell in place, he was missing something. There was something about Kiev and Erika that he didn't know, something more important than all the other things he also didn't know.

"_Why is he so human?_"Levi thought as Kiev's curious, yet a little bit scared, eyes looked into his. Yes, those eyes confirmed it in a way, Eren had never showed any other emotion apart from rage in his titan form. Why could Kiev feel different things? The only answer to that had to be...

The Corporal chuckled, Kiev hadn't imagined it, and remained silent for a short while before he made an unexpected move. His lips hung close to Kiev's for a moment, the red eyed being was so surprised he couldn't think of anything to do or say. Kiev was holding his breath, waiting for the contact and when it seemed that he would feel the other man's lips on him, Levi backed away and headed for the house's only exit.

"Let's go, we have things to do Kiev"

"D-Don't you want Erika?" It took the red eyed being a moment to return to his normal self, his talk was a bit off in all.

"I'm very sure she can't see in the dark better than you can. You're the one riding after all..." Levi replied with a stoic expression on his face. "You should talk to Erika too, if she knows you exist then it may prove very useful"

"That is something I definitely have to do" Kiev huffed, finally back to being himself, and walked over to Levi. His walk a little bit off as he still felt numb. "I need to remind her she's not alone anymore."

**/ / This chapter's extra long and I thought I'd be able to post it earlier but I ran in with an unexpected test . Erika and the beast titan had their encounter and something silly is going on between Kiev and Levi. The Corporal seems to have an idea of what's going on with Erika, but he needs confirmation. Next chapter we're meeting Eren and Hanji again~! / /**


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